Macabre: Tales From Edgar Allan Poe

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Macabre: Tales From Edgar Allan Poe consists of four one-act plays, inspired by Poe s tales. William Wilson (7m., 1w.) begins in a school in England. Wilson is a strong-willed, self-centered young student. He excels in everything academics, sports and leadership. The inciting force that propels the story is the arrival of a doppelganger to Wilson s school. His name is also William Wilson, and his birthday is also the same. This Wilson number two has the opposite nature from the headstrong Wilson number one. Where Wilson number one is arrogant, number two is self-effacing and kind. Wilson number two is an excellent student and athlete and can beat Wilson number one at sports. This clash of wills goes on for years even after primary school. At the conclusion of the tale, Wilson number one kills his better half, Wilson number two. The second piece, The Valdemar Case (3m., 1w.), is a science fiction story. Ernest Valdemar is a dying man. He has engaged a hypnotist, who has cured him of insomnia, to use hypnosis to keep him from dying. The hypnotist is convinced that this experiment will work. The experiment seems to work but takes hideous turns on the patient. At the conclusion, all that Valdemar can say from his hypnotic trance is: I am dead. Erie and thought-provoking. In The Imp of the Perverse (2m.), a convicted killer is talking with his priest on the day before the killer s execution. The priest tries to bring faith to bear on the killer to mollify his last hours. The killer has no faith and desires no priest. The killer describes the details of his crime: a senseless, hideous murder of a family member. The family member never did harm to the killer. The killer explains the imp of the perverse, the propensity in man to act on irrational impulses. The killer lives well after the murder, but another impulse creeps into him, an impulse as strong as perversity guilt. It is only his own impulsive guilt that causes his capture and conviction. Frightening insights into how impulse is a controlling factor in h